McKenna commits to 15 debates

By David Catanese

03/26/12 05:31 PM EDT

Republican Attorney General Rob McKenna has agreed to an unprecedented 15 debates against former Rep. Jay Inslee, once again positioning himself as the candidate on offense in Washington's race for governor.

McKenna's campaign chided Inslee for not agreeing to a June 12 debate by the Association of Washington Business, even though it was Inslee who first proposed a series of six face-to-face meetings back in December.

The Inslee campaign responded that McKenna wants more debates to "cover up his recent record of skipping meetings with key stakeholders."

The debate over debates inevitably bubbles up in every campaign and is usually more about public posturing than actually debating.

But being that Inslee was out of the gate first on debate requests, it's perplexing why he would allow McKenna to seize that turf.

Inslee's campaign is now on the record criticizing the Association of Washington Business for negotiating in bad faith, leading to this exchange in the The Seattle Times:

Smith accused AWB of "collaborating" with McKenna's campaign in trying to organize a debate favorable to the attorney general.

AWB spokesperson Jocelyn McCabe said Inslee's decision was news to her. Previously, Inslee had declined to commit to the event, but hadn't outright rejected it.

McCabe disputed the Inslee campaign's claim that AWB was plotting against him with its debate schedule. "We respectfully disagree," she said.